Followership Dr. Abdurrahman Baş Fall 2013 www.abdurrahmanbas.com
Followership is - the willingness to cooperate in working towards the accomplishment of the group mission, - to demonstrate a high degree of teamwork and to build cohesion among the group. Effective followership is an excellent building block to effective leadership. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 2
Who is a Follower? Volunteering to handle tasks or help accomplish goals Willingly accepting assignments Exhibiting loyalty to the group Voicing differences of opinions, but supporting the group's decisions Offering suggestions Maintaining a positive attitude, even in confusing or trying times Working effectively as a team member www.abdurrahmanbas.com 3
Followership Styles www.abdurrahmanbas.com 4
Followership Styles www.abdurrahmanbas.com 5
Exemplary Follower Exemplary followers exercise independent, critical thinking, separate from the group or leader. Second, they are actively engaged, using their talents for the benefit of the organization, even when confronted with bureaucracy or other non-contributing members. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 6
Conformist Follower Approximately 20-30% of the population falls into this style. Conformist followers often say yes when they really want to say no. They are eager to take orders and please others. They assume that the leader s position of power entitles them to obedience. They do not question the social order and find comfort in structure. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 7
Passive Follower Approximately 5-10% of the population falls into this style. Passive followers are the exact opposite of exemplary followers. They look to the leader to do their thinking for them. They do not carry out their assignments with enthusiasm. They lack initiative and a sense of responsibility, which requires contact direction. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 8
Alientated Follower Approximately 15-25% of the population falls into this style. They think independently and critically, but are not active in carrying out the role of a follower. They might find themselves disengaging from the group at times. They may see themselves as a victim who has been treated unfairly. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 9
Pragmatist Follower Approximately 25-35% of the population falls into this style. Pragmatist followers stay in the middle of the road. They question a leader s decisions, but not too often or too openly. They perform the required tasks, but seldom do more than is asked or expected. They may live by the slogan better safe than sorry. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 10
What do followers need from their leader? The primary results of a Gallup research are presented in Part Three of Strengths Based Leadership Book. Based on Gallup s studies of 10,004 people, the following key themes (or basic needs) emerged: Trust (also: honesty, integrity, and respect) Compassion (also: caring, friendship, happiness, and love) Stability (also: security, strength, support, and peace) Hope (also: direction, faith, and guidance) Research conducted by Gallup, Inc. for Strengths-based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, 2008. Gallup Press www.abdurrahmanbas.com 11
Trust The topic of trust dominated the conversation on successful teams. Relationship trumps competence when it comes to trust. Authenticity = trust. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 12
Trust Trust is closely linked to employee engagement in an organization. Only 1 in 12 employees say they feel engaged at work when they don t trust the company s leaders Employee engagement increases sixfold (1:2) when they trust the leaders. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 13
Compassion Leaders who show that they care about their employees Organizational level: Caring Global level: Positive influence Because its difficult for leaders of huge organizations or nations to show caring to each person, positive influence was seen as the important compassion-building characteristic. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 14
Stability Counting on your leader(s) in times of need Our need for stability factors into all the decisions we make work, family, politics. Leaders need to help us feel secure, confident. Transparency is a key factor in conveying this. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 15
Hope Stability in the moment Hope for the future a way to see through the chaos and complexity. Direction, faith, guidance. Does your leadership make you feel enthusiastic about the future? Leaders often are reactive and don t initiate action to instill hope. www.abdurrahmanbas.com 16